


Trouble Brewing

by WeirdV



Series: Let's write some prompts, cause it's fun. [20]
Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: :), BAMF Stiles, Barista!Derek, Detective Stiles, Established Relationship, Fluff, Lots of plot, M/M, Multiple chapters, Mystery, PI!Stiles, a bit of angst, it seems, planning a wedding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-03-17
Updated: 2015-04-07
Packaged: 2018-03-18 05:16:06
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,856
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3557396
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/WeirdV/pseuds/WeirdV
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Stiles?” Derek asks, sticking his head through the door of his office, “You coming to bed yet?”</p><p>He looks up, his eyes red from staring at the screen and the floor littered with files and pictures and post-it notes.</p><p>“What?” he replies, rubbing his sleepy eyes, “Yeah – just – a bit longer? I’m so close.”</p><p>“Okay” he sighs, closing the door behind him. It had gotten worse a few days ago, but he had seen how it started spiraling down almost a month ago when he first got the case.</p><p>Stiles gets a new case - and now he has to balance his time between his other cases, Derek, his friends and family - and oh, he also has a wedding to plan.<br/>(Follow up to "Caution, contens may be hot", but can be read alone.)</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

  * For [philosophykitten](https://archiveofourown.org/users/philosophykitten/gifts), [chubbypup](https://archiveofourown.org/users/chubbypup/gifts).



> Gifted to chubbypup, for supplying the title of the series.  
> And to Philosophykitten for providing me with a title  
> ^_^

“Stiles?” Derek asks, sticking his head through the door of his office, “You coming to bed yet?”

He looks up, his eyes red from staring at the screen and the floor littered with files and pictures and post-it notes.

“What?” he replies, rubbing his sleepy eyes, “Yeah – just – a bit longer? I’m so close.”

“Okay” he sighs, closing the door behind him. It had gotten worse a few days ago, but he had seen how it started spiraling down almost a month ago when he first got the case.

Stiles never shares any details with Derek – not when it comes to his cases – but Derek knows that somehow this one is personal. There’s a number of things from Stiles’ past that could be part of it. The disappearance of his childhood friend – and coincidently Derek’s cousin – Malia Tate. The murder of his high school girlfriend Heather, the attack on his best friend Scott, the attack on his friend Lydia – the list was endless. But the way that Stiles was obsessing over this case, Derek knew it was about one of those. If only he could get Stiles to open up about it.

It’s half past one when Stiles finally stumbles into the bedroom.

“Hi” he mutters when he sees Derek is still awake, “Sorry – I got distracted.”

“I know” Derek replies softly, “It’s okay. Find anything?”

“Sort of” he shrugs, “Might have tracked down a witness that didn’t come forward during the original investigation.”

“What case are you working on, Stiles?” Derek asks, giving his fiancé a concerned look, “I know it’s personal, because it’s been eating you up! You can talk to me about it, you know that!”

“Yeah – I know babe” he sighs deeply, “It’s just – what if I hit a dead end again?”

“Then you clear up, and start from the beginning” he says, “Like you always do – I just want you to know you can always talk to me about these things.”

“This – well” he sighs, rubbing his eyes, “Heather. Her mom, she called me. Her sister is getting married – and she asked if I could take a look at the case.  She read about my – about our other case in the papers. She knew it was about me, even though my name wasn’t mentioned anywhere.”

“Hmm” Derek frowns, “Why did you agree to take a look at it? I mean – I thought they arrested someone back then, didn’t they?”

“Recent DNA evidence cleared him” Stiles mumbles sleepily, yawning loudly, “New suspect is a woman – I – I’ll find out who did this. Have to – made a promise.”

Derek nods, pulling him against him and pressing his lips to his forehead, “Tomorrow” Derek says, pulling the blankets over them as he watches Stiles sink further into sleep.

[…]

“So – Stiles is working a new case huh” Laura says, sitting on the counter as she’s stacking the paper cups in the cabinet above her, “How bad is it?”

“About 2am every night for the past week” Derek says, “He was still asleep when I got up. Left him there, though. He needs his rest.”

“I know” Laura sighs, “I finally found a new roommate, by the way. An English teacher by the name of Jennifer. She’s pretty cool, to be honest.”

“That’s awesome, Laura” Derek smiles. Laura had been looking for a new roommate ever since Derek moved out. She’d had some trouble with their upstairs neighbor flooding her bath, and some water damage. But they had restored the apartment and it was in up top condition. Better than it had ever looked before, if you asked Laura. Even if you didn’t ask her, she’d tell you.

“Jennifer – she’s a regular, isn’t she?” Derek asks after a while, the name ringing a bell.

“Yeah” Laura nods, “She’s the café au latte girl, with ginger and pumpkin spice.”

“Right, always takes a blueberry muffin to go” Derek recalls, Laura snorts.

“That’s her” she confirms, “She was in here two weeks ago, having an argument with her roommate. She turned to me and asked if I happened to have an extra room, because her friend had asked her boyfriend to move in and was kicking her out.”

“Wow – harsh” Derek says, Laura shrugs.

“I guess” she says, “But it worked out pretty good for me.”

“Laura Hale – making the best of a bad situation” Derek says, Laura grins at him as she hops off the counter and lands gracefully on her feet.

“That’s me” she says, before turning and walking into the storage room, leaving Derek to open the shop by himself.

Business had become massive in those first few months after the case. People from all over the country would come by – Derek didn’t really know how to feel about that. Laura told him to stop complaining about the massive profit he was making because of it and not to look a gift horse in the mouth.

Most of them were there to get an exclusive, to tell their friends they saw _the_ Derek Hale. Some were there with stories of Kate Argent – people who had fallen victim to her madness. There were people there who just stared at Derek, and people who had clearly expected something entirely different of the place and left muttering about how disappointed they were about the whole thing.

Derek pretended he didn’t hear them.

[…]

Stiles walks into the coffee shop with his laptop around two in the afternoon – as usual – and takes seat at his table. Derek always makes sure it’s cleared by the time that Stiles arrives.

_‘What do you mean this table is reserved? You can’t reserve tables in a coffee shop’_

_‘Since I am in charge here, I can. Take another table, or get out.’_

Derek was very glad for Laura’s talent of being bitchy to annoying customers without being actually mean. Stiles just takes his seat, opens his laptop and gives Derek a grateful smile when he hands him his coffee. During the day Stiles works on his other cases – Heather’s case is something he keeps for evenings and nights. He’s currently working on two cheating husband cases, a cheating wife, a woman who suspects her children are skipping school, and a grandmother who doesn’t really trusts her grandson’s new girlfriend.

“I tell you” Stiles says with a shake of his head, “If people actually start talking to each other and trusting each other, I’ll be out of a job in no time.”

“Probably” Derek says, “But you’d have more time for me – so, every cloud.”

Stiles sighs, and Derek suddenly feels guilty about the comment, “I’ve been neglecting you, haven’t I” he says, slumping down in his seat, “How about this. Tonight, no work at all! We’ll watch a movie together, get take-out, and just talk or something. Maybe we can finally start planning the wedding, Lydia’s been driving me crazy about setting a date.”

“Laura too” Derek says, “Sounds like a plan.”

“Okay, it’s set” he says, pulling out his phone and clearing his schedule, “Tonight is all about us.”

[…]

 

Stiles had held to his promise, going out for dinner and writing up some plans for the wedding before going to bed a little past ten. But when Derek rolls over in the middle of the night he’s not surprised to find the other side of the bed empty – again, and the door standing ajar. He sighs, checking the time to see that it’s already 2am, and drags himself out of bed towards the light of the living room to find Stiles hunched over his computer.

“Stiles – please come to bed” Derek says, Stiles looks up – slightly confused, “It’s 2am.”

“Oh – fuck” he sighs, closing the laptop and getting up, “I didn’t realize.”

“I know” Derek says, giving his fiancé a fond smile, “You found another lead in Heather’s case?”

“I think so” Stiles says, placing his laptop on the desk – he often sits on the floor when he gets in the zone working a case, “Which reminds me – is Laura still looking for a roommate?”

“Uh – not really” he says, trying to figure out how Stiles jumped to that topic of conversation before deciding he’s too tired for that, “She had this woman come in to the shop last week who just got kicked out by her roommate and new boyfriend. Why?”

“Isaac asked if I knew anyone with a spare room” he shrugs, “too bad, would’ve been cool if he could’ve moved in with Laura. What’s her new roommate’s name?”

“Jennifer – Blake? I think?” he says, rubbing the back of his hands into his eyes, “It’s 2am, Stiles. Please don’t ask me any more questions about her” he adds quickly when Stiles opens his mouth to reply, “Just – come to bed and get some sleep, okay?”

“Okay” he says, pulling off his shirt and following Derek into the bedroom where he takes off his jeans and places them on the chair standing by the door.

“Sweet dreams, sweetie” Stiles mutters as Derek wraps his arms around him from behind, he sighs contently and it doesn’t take long before he’s off to sleep as well.

 

[…]

“How’s it going with the wedding planning?” Laura asks a few days later, she’s leaning against the counter while absently drying off a few mugs, “Any progress?”

“We have narrowed it down to two dates” Derek says, “Both in the summer. I think Stiles will prefer the second option, though. It’s the same date his parents got married – it’s a way of having his mother there too.”

“That’s sweet” Laura says with a smile, “You guys should come over for dinner next week.”

“You hate cooking” Derek comments, Laura rolls her eyes, “So I know that what you’re actually trying to say is _‘Derek, invite me over for dinner’._ ”

“I am waiting” Laura says with a satisfied smirk.

“Laura – are you free for dinner next Wednesday?” he asks, Laura smiles.

“I am” she says, “Lucky you.”

“Comes out pretty well, actually” Derek says, grinning widely at her, “We were going to do our ‘save the date’ cards, you can help us stuffing envelopes.”

“Crap” Laura glowers at him, “You suck Derek.”

“I know” he says, and Laura already knows what is coming next, but she can’t stop him from saying it, “Stiles doesn’t complain about that – though.”

“ _Ew_ ” she turns around, sticking her fingers in her ears, “I’m just going to go over there and bleach my ears.”

Derek watches her leave towards the pantry and laughs as she almost runs into the door, Laura turns around, glaring at him, “Don’t you dare” she warns him, before closing the door behind her and disappearing from his view.

He opens the door for his first customers thirty minutes later, after turning on the coffee machines and placing the muffins and other breakfast items in the counter.

“Hi” the first one to walk in is Jennifer – a regular and also Laura’s new roommate -, “The usual, please.”

Derek nods, giving her a friendly smile, “I guess we’ll be seeing more of each other now – huh?” she says, “I mean – now that I’m your sister’s roommate.”

“Probably” he shrugs, scribbling her name on the paper cup and putting a blueberry muffin in a paper bag to go, “That is if I have time to catch up with Laura.”

“That busy, huh?” she asks, leaning on the counter, “Must be – if you’re running a coffee shop.”

“Laura does most of the paperwork” he says, his back turned towards her as he takes a plastic lid to cover the paper coffee cup, “I’m in the middle of planning a wedding.”

“Oh – that’s fun” she says, smiling broadly as he turns to face her and hand her her order, “Who’s getting married?”

“Uhm – I am” he says, frowning in confusion, “hasn’t Laura told you?”

“To be honest, we haven’t had much time to talk” she admits, “She’s out a lot.”

“Right” Derek frowns, recalling a vague memory of Laura telling him about an evening class she started following, “She’s not the type to stay in and watch a movie.”

“I’ve noticed” Jennifer says, placing a ten dollar note on the counter, “Anyways, nice seeing you and thanks for the coffee.”

Derek gives a nod and she holds up the cup to him, “Oh – and say hi to the lucky lady for me” she says, taking in Derek’s confusion, “Your fiancé?”

“Right” he says, a tight smile on his face – does he correct her or not? – as he gives her an absent wave, “Will do.”

When she leaves through the door, it’s only to let in five more customers – not leaving Derek any room to wonder about her assumptions.

 

[…]

 

“Dad!” Stiles can’t help but smile when his father picks up the phone, “We finally set a date – it’s going to be a summer wedding.”

“Is it -?”

“Yeah” he doesn’t even have to finish the question, the sheriff knows his son like the back of his hand. It can be really annoying at times.

“Are you – are you sure about this, son?” he asks a big hesitantly, “Not about getting married – but choosing that date. You’re not afraid it will be too – you know?”

“I thought – maybe we can make that day a happy memory again” he says, “I know it’s weird – getting married on the day you and mom did. But – in a way it will feel like she’s there, you know?”

“Yeah – I understand” he sighs, “I’m happy for you kid! I will keep the day free. And Melissa said she’d love to help out where needed. Knows some great venues – and has some contacts as well.”

“I will give her a call” he says, there’s a pause on the other side, “Dad – you still there?”

“Yeah – sorry” he says, “I – I’m happy for you, son. I’m glad you found someone that makes you happy. I really am.”

“Yeah – me too.”

 

[…]

“I heard you were working on a new case” Laura says as she leans against the counter, “How’s it going?”

“Difficult” he admits, taking the cup of coffee Derek hands him in between his customers, “But it’s going – slowly – but still.”

“Well – I know you’re the best at what you do” Laura says, “So, I’m sure you can pull it off. As long as you don’t neglect my brother too much.”

“I try my best” Stiles says, glancing at Derek over his shoulder – who has just disappeared into the kitchen to fetch another pie, “I just – fuck.”

“Yeah, I know” Laura says, smiling at him.

“Has – has he talked to you about it?” Stiles says, “He never tells me when it’s bothering him, and I get distracted by a case and – well.”

“He mentioned your new case” she says, “But he doesn’t complain, in case you were wondering.”

“Oh” he bites his lip, “Why doesn’t he just talk to me whenever he feels like that?”

“He doesn’t want to pull you out of the zone” Laura says, Stiles raises a questioning eyebrow at him, “When you’re working a case, you get this hyperfocus and that’s usually when you get your big leads. When the puzzle pieces fall into place? Well – he’s afraid of fucking up your case if he interrupts you during one of those phases.”

“Oh – yeah” Stiles bites, “That’s sweet of him. And that’s actually logical too – to be honest.”

“He’s aware” she says, “Just remember to keep a few evening a week free for him. He’s actually been thinking about keeping the coffee shop open for the whole night on Friday and Saturday – so, I think it’s getting to him.”

“Why?” Stiles frowns, “I mean – usually his ideas about the business make way more sense.”

“It’s not a bad idea, actually. Something about college kids partying on weekends, and having them as customers. It’s not really a clientele we’re getting at the moment. Mostly just people working 9 to 5, or freelancers who use the wifi here and prefer this place to their office for a few hours a week” she explains, “But he just suggested it because he thinks it’s better than sitting at home and lying in bed along waiting for you to come to sleep.”

“Aw – yeah. That does sound like him” he says, the doors to the kitchen opens and Derek reappears, giving Stiles a wide smile and a wink in greeting.

“Hmm” Laura comments, clearly deciding that everything that needed to be said, has been said, and turns around to return to her job.

[…]

“Stiles – I ordered dinner. You coming?” he asks quietly, knocking softly on the door of his office. Stiles looks up, gazing at the closed door and sighs as he gets up. He should really eat, and sit with Derek. They have a lot of work for their wedding, obviously, but Stiles’ case is also important.

“Be right there” he shouts back, as he saves his documents and quickly jolts down some ideas on a few post-it notes. He looks around again – his eye falling on a picture sticking out of one of his folders, and reaches for it. It’s a clipping of an article about the murder of Aiden – another Beacon Hills teenager.

Stiles remembers him vaguely, he was on the lacrosse team with him. They weren’t friends, per se, but his brother dated Danny – so they sometimes ran in the same circles. Although, he doesn’t believe he ever met Heather – that doesn’t mean there’s no connection between the two deaths. It seems a bit too much of a coincidence for both teenager’s murder to be completely unrelated. Murder isn’t that common in Beacon Hills – which begs the question; How were Heather and Aiden connected?

“Stiles?” there’s another knock and the door opens slowly, “I thought you were – what?”

He looks up to see Derek looking down at him, slightly confused – then almost angry.

“Dinner” Derek says, Stiles frowns again, “In the kitchen, remember?”

“Right” he says, “Right – dinner arrived a few minutes ago.”

“Two hours ago – Stiles” he says tersely, “I called you for dinner two hours ago – you said you’d be right there.”

“Two hours? No – that can’t be right?” he says, looking at the clock, “Oh – fuck. Sorry, I saw this article, and I got distracted.”

“Yeah – I know” he says briskly, “Are you coming to eat?”

“Yeah – just a second, let me put this –“

“Now, Stiles” Derek says, Stiles looks up at him – slightly shocked by Derek’s angry tone, “I’m done waiting.”

“Well – then just eat without me” he says back, “I’m not making you wait!”

“Maybe I prefer eating dinner together” he retorts, “Discuss our day, talk, plan our wedding for a bit? Remember that? Huh? Our wedding?”

“Yes, Derek, I remember our wedding” he says, “Jeez – you were the one who didn’t want to hire a wedding planner, okay! Don’t complain about the work now.”

“I’m not _complaining_ about the work” he shouts, “I was just expecting us to do it _together._ Since it’s your wedding too!”

“Yeah – I know” Stiles screams, “Your sister told me you’ve been complaining about it. I’m sorry I’m such an annoyance to you.”

“I never said –“

“Whatever – leave me alone” he replies, slamming the door shut and locking it behind him – leaving Derek seething at the other side.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, I know. I am very sorry for ending here.
> 
> It's been a while since I posted anything. Which is actually good news, because that means I haven't been procrastinating at all.  
> Well - much ^_^
> 
> Anyways, I hope you like it - let me know.  
> And that you'll be back for the next chapters :)  
> <3


	2. Chapter 2

“Derek?” his voice is quiet as he opens the door to the dark bedroom, “Are you still up?”

Derek doesn’t reply, just turns over and sighs, not really sure what to say to him.

“I’m sorry” he whispers, walking towards the bed, “I – this case is getting to me more than I thought. I know that’s no excuse to be mean to you.

“It’s not” Derek replies, his voice still tense. He hates this – he hates it when they fight, when Stiles feels guilty. When he feels guilty – because he knows that Stiles’ job is important. More important than his job – than their wedding.

“I know” he sighs, the mattress dips as he sits down on the other side of the bed, “It’s about Heather. I – it brings up a lot of memories. And it hurts – but it’s also nice to remember her. It brings out a bad side in me.”

“You know you can talk to me about it” Derek says quietly, turning over to face him.

“I know” Stiles says, “But it’s difficult. My dad and I – we don’t talk about the ones we lost. We never talked about my mom, never talked about Heather – nothing.”

There’s a silence – Derek isn’t sure what to say. Sorry doesn’t seem to cover it, and part of him suddenly feels absolute hatred for the sheriff, a man he had always admired and looked up to.

“Dad – he took mom’s death really bad” Stiles continues, “After – I usually just made sure there was dinner on the table and that the house was clean. I stayed over at Scott a lot, to be honest. Dad didn’t know how to deal. Mom was gone, and he was stuck with me – some hyperactive spaz who watched his mother die because he couldn’t be there in time.”

“I didn’t know you –.” Derek frowns, he always believed his mother had died at the scene.

“I was at the hospital when they brought her in” Stiles says, “Visited Scott after an asthma attack. Melissa – she came and told me. Said that – she said that this would be the hardest thing I would ever do, but if I didn’t, I would regret it for the rest of my life. She said my mom was hurt in an accident, and she wasn’t going to make it. She said I should come and say goodbye.”

His eyes are wet – understandably – and he avoids Derek’s gaze, wiping away the tears with the back of his hand, “Heather – she came to the funeral. Our moms were best friends. When I lost Heather – it felt like I lost the last connection to my mom.”

“I – I wish I could say something to help” Derek says slowly, “I’m sorry for being such a jerk tonight.”

“No, no, you weren’t” Stiles says quickly, “You were right. It’s just – it’s okay to tell me, okay? When you feel neglected, or you want me to come and sit with you to watch some lame ass reality show – I want you to tell me. Don’t keep it to yourself because you’re afraid I’ll get mad. And I apologize in advance for the times I will get mad. But tell me, okay?”

“Okay” Derek says, “Will you come to bed now?”

“Yeah” he says, “Yeah, I will.”

“Good” he smiles, lifting up the blanket for Stiles to crawl under.

“And Derek – thanks for leaving me some food” he mutters as an afterthought.

“Any time.”

[…]

“You look tired” Jennifer says with a smile when she walks into the coffee shop the following morning, “You sleep okay?”

“Yeah – like a baby” Derek says. He and Stiles had woken up early, had another good talk and finally made some important decisions about the wedding.

“You sure?” she asks jokingly, “Because you buttoned your shirt wrong.”

He looks down to find that he had – indeed – buttoned his shirt wrong.

“Well – it was early this morning” he smiles, “How’ve you been?”

She starts telling him about something one of her pupils did as he starts making her order, he interjects and _hmm_ and a _kids these days_ every few minutes and she smiles widely as he hands her the order.

“Thanks” she says as she pulls out her wallet to pay, “Your fiancé is lucky to have you.”

“Well – I’m lucky to have him” he shrugs, studying her face as he subtly drops the pronoun, “Couldn’t imagine not having him in my life anymore.”

“Well” she says, quickly restoring her expression into a smile, “Congratulations.”

“Thank you” he says, watching her leave the shop with her latte and blueberry muffin.

[…]

Stiles puts Heather’s case to the side for a while, hoping it will clear his mind so he can look at it with fresh eyes in a few days.

It also means he can finally focus some of his free time on Derek.

They manage to plan a lot for the wedding, find a venue, a caterer, and plan in a cake tasting session.

_Cake, Derek! They make us cake, and we get to taste it!_

_You know I sell cake for a living, right?_

_Well – yeah, but! It’s different, okay! Trust me._

They go out for dinner a few times, enjoying each other’s company and having some important conversations about their future together. What do they want more from life, do they want to travel – buy a house? Have kids.

They finalize their guest list – and then decide to scratch about 75% of it and keep it low-key. They consider eloping for a few seconds too, until Stiles remembers that Lydia would probably skin them alive if they did. Not to mention Laura.

“Do you think we can risk putting Laura and Lydia at the same table?” Derek asks, frowning slightly at the seating chart.

“I think – I was thinking about putting Laura with Jordan – Parrish, you remember him? We met him a few weeks back, my dad’s new deputy” Stiles says, “I think they might hit it off.”

“That’s a good idea, actually” Derek says, writing down the name, “Which leaves only fifteen people to seat. Almost done.”

“Thank god” Stiles says with a relieved sigh.

[…]

He takes the case back up two weeks later – unable to let it go. He goes through everything again, and finally stumbles upon a name that sounds familiar. Matt Daehler – the same Matt Daehler he busted almost two years ago when working a job for the coffee shop owner across the street – is his first lead. He hadn’t even realized it was the guy he want to school with, for some reason never connecting the dots. But he sees his name written in a public police record on Heather’s case as being one of the people that were interviewed when she went missing – she was found two days later.

The strange thing is – however – that he hadn’t been questioned after they found Heather’s body. Thinking back to that moment still gives him cold shivers.

He’d told Derek about Heather a few months after they started dating – well, sort of. He mentioned her disappearing when they were going to hook up, but he hadn’t told him the full extent of their relationship at that moment. That had come after Derek moved in and stumbled across his old yearbook – the one with a picture of him and Heather.

They’d been pretty serious for a high school couple, or so Scott often said, and most people imagined them getting married and starting a family together. When Heather went missing however – well – people didn’t really know what to say anymore. He lost a lot of people who he thought were friends that year – and not just Heather.

He didn’t like to think back to that time. He’d been a suspect for a while – he didn’t really blame anyone for that, he was her boyfriend after all. His dad had been put back on the case as soon as his alibi had checked out.

He’s surprised Matt decides to even meet up with him to talk, settling on some diner at the edge of town in the early afternoon.

[…]

“Stilinski” Matt gives him a wave when he arrived, “Long time no see – well, you know. Since that asshole fired me.”

“Huh?” Stiles frowns – glad that Matt isn’t aware he was responsible for getting him fired.

“Never mind. Water under the bridge” he says, waving over a waitress and ordering them drinks, “You know – I almost forgot about Julia when you called. It was nice being reminded.”

“Julia?” Stiles asks, “That was her first name? I didn’t know you were so close to her.”

“Yeah – why are you looking for her?” he asks, taking a sip from his tea when it arrives and looking up at Stiles.

“I’m looking into Heather’s case again” he says, “Just gathering up some information on witnesses from back then. I can’t seem to find her anywhere on any record.”

“Looking into her case? I didn’t know you went into law enforcement” Matt comments, grabbing the sugar and pouring way too much sugar into his cup.

“I didn’t” Stiles says, “Well – not really. Private investigator. Pays better, less red tape – and way more fun.”

“How do you know that for sure?” Matt asks, “You used to work as a cop?”

“I did a short internship at the FBI” he explains, “It sucked. Anyways, are you still in touch with Julia?”

“No, sadly not” he says with a dreamy sigh, “She cut off all ties when we broke up.”

“Broke up?” Stiles raises an eyebrow at him, “You were _dating_ her? You mean – while she was our teacher?”

“Yes” he says slowly, “I mean – maybe best you don’t advertise that, huh?”

“Best not” he agrees, “So – what happened? She just disappeared on you?”

“Kind of?” he shrugs again, “I was graduating that year – and there’d been those murders. She said she needed a change of scenery. I wanted to go with her – but she broke it off.”

“Where did you meet up?” he asks, adding sugar to his coffee and stirring it.

“At school after hours. Usually during or after a lacrosse game” he says, “That’s when the place was abandoned.”

“Hmm” he smiles, “Do you remember Heather ever being there?”

“I saw her in the hallways a few times” he says, “But I honestly don’t remember specifically. But if you think Julia was responsible for her death – well. Julia wouldn’t hurt a fly. Trust me.”

“I’ll take your word for it” he says, giving Matt his most bright and fake smile and deciding to look into Julia a bit more.

[…]

Derek almost trips over it when he comes home from work that evening, looking at it curiously – and slightly confused – when Stiles walks out of the bedroom holding a pile of clothes.

“Oh – you’re home” he says, he doesn’t smile like he normally does – he looks nervous, actually – like he hadn’t expected Derek to be there.

“Yeah” he says, gesturing towards the trunk he almost tripped over, “What’s going on?”

“I have to leave” he says, and Derek freezes. Sure, they’d had a few arguments – but still. Stiles couldn’t just leave, he wouldn’t. First thing, this was _Stiles_ ’ place, not Derek’s. Second – Stiles would at least talk to him before making rush decisions like this – wouldn’t he?

“Yeah, I know” Stiles says, as if reading Derek’s mind even though he has his back turned towards the man while he’s loading underwear into the trunk, “I probably should’ve talked to you about it first – but I just can’t stand it anymore.”

“What?” Derek asks, the words coming out quiet and small – somehow he can’t breathe anymore, even though he is breathing. It feels like he stopped.

“I’m really sorry Derek” he says, finally turning around, “I tried to let you know, but your phone was turned off, I think.”

“Oh – yeah” he says, he had turned it off after Laura’s complaining about it constantly buzzing during work.

“Derek – what’s wrong?” Stiles asks, frowning as if Derek is acting strange when he finally takes in Derek’s expression.

“I – I mean, I know we’ve had a few arguments” he says, swallowing, “I just thought that - .”

“No, no, no, no” Stiles says quickly, shaking his head vehemently, “This is not what you think! I’m not leaving _you_! Of course not! I got another lead, and I tried getting information through phone calls and all – but I have to go down there to actually look at the paperwork.”

Derek lets out a heavy breath, the tension easing out of his shoulders, “Oh.”

“Yeah – I’m sorry I scared you like that” Stiles says earnestly, “I probably should’ve been clearer about this.”

“No – I shouldn’t have jumped to the worst conclusion first” he says slowly, and Stiles shakes his head again – almost as if he’s angry at Derek for saying it.

“No, you have every right” Stiles says, “I know – you’ve been through a lot of shit with previous relationships. So I would never blame you for freaking out!”

“Oh – thanks?” he says weakly, Stiles sighs as he takes a step towards Derek and wraps his arms around his waist, “I can’t believe I thought you would -.”

“I _promise_ you Derek, _if_ I ever decide to leave – I will talk to you” he says, “I wouldn’t just leave you in the middle of nothing to leave you wondering about me.”

“I thought you were supposed to promise to love me forever” Derek says with a weak smile, Stiles grins and plants a chaste kiss on his lips before shaking his head slightly.

“Nah – I can’t see the future” he says, “But I can promise to fight for us for as long as I love you. And I really hope I never stop loving you.”

“Yeah – me too” Derek sighs, “Where do you have to go?”

“Redding” he says, “They have the files on that substitute teacher from when Heather went missing – the one Matt claims to have had an affair with.”

“Oh – I see” he says, “Be honest with me – is it dangerous?”

“No, it’s not” he says, and Derek knows he’s telling the truth – he tends to look down at his feet when he’s telling a lie - , “Just – if someone asks you about where I am, tell them I’m at some sort of PI seminar, okay?”

“Precaution?” he asks as Stiles releases himself from the hug and continues to pack his suitcase.

“Yeah – I think there’s a chance she’s taken on a new identity. I don’t know why – but for all I know she’s right under my nose” he shrugs, “So – you can’t tell Laura either. It’s not that I don’t trust her – but in case someone overhears it, well. You understand.”

“I do” he says, “Call me when you get there and are checked into your – motel? I assume?”

“Dodgiest one in town” he snorts, “I will.”


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Repost of chapter 3, kind of.  
> I know it'll feel like deja-vu. But I added a bit, so it's certainly an update ;)

“Where’s Stiles?” Laura asks, “Haven’t seen him in a few days – you’re not fighting, are you?”

“Oh – he’s out to some PI seminar in L.A.” Derek shrugs, “Should be home by Wednesday.”

“Good – for a moment there you had me worried he’d miss the cake tasting” Laura grins, “Should’ve know better though.”

“Yeah – no way in hell would Stiles ever miss the tasting of cake” Derek agrees. It was difficult to deny – Stiles had been talking about it for three days after they set the date for cake tasting. Thinking back to that – Derek feels even more like an idiot for even _thinking_ Stiles was leaving him.

[…]

Stiles gets shorter tempered. Derek recognizes this behavior, it means he starts hitting roadblocks on his case. It means that none of his leads are leading him anywhere.

Stiles sighs deeply as he sits down on the empty chair next to Lydia.

“That bad, huh?” she asks, giving him an understanding look, “What’s the block?”

“I can’t find a picture of her anywhere” he says, “You remember that substitute we had back in high school? During the time Heather – you know?”

“Yeah – I remember her” she says, “She was slightly creepy! Used to come to lacrosse games, but left halfway through the first part.”

“Huh – I never knew that” he says, “Do you think you might have a picture of her somewhere?”

“Maybe” she says, “I’ll have Jackson look into it – Danny’s friend often took pictures of the game. We’ll have a look at it when I get home.”

“Thanks, Lyds” he smiles, “You’re the best.”

“You can thank me by buying me some coffee” she says with a smile as Stiles raises his hand to call Laura over.

“Derek not working today?” Lydia asks, looking around for him.

“Nope” he shakes his head, “Went to some baker’s workshop. Was really excited about it.”

“Sounds fun” she replies, “How’s it going with the wedding plans?”

“Well – slowly. How did you ever do it?”

“I hired a wedding planner.”

 

 [...]

 “I’m _stuck_ Derek” Stiles complains, shutting his laptop, “Stuck!”

“What have you got” Derek says, “Lay it out. Try to look at it with fresh eyes.”

“I know who did it” he says, “Well, I think I know who did it.”

“Explain” Derek says, leaning his elbows on the table and looking at Stiles.

“So – last time I spoke to Heather, she said something about talking to our substitute teacher for English, Miss Baccari” he starts, “She seemed kind of bothered by it. According to the files she was interviewed, but never a suspect. I tried to track her down, but she’s nowhere to be found. In fact, her entire persona ceases to exist in public record two months after Heather’s death. And two days after Aiden’s death. Right before graduation, actually, since the teacher she was replacing came out of maternity leave.”

“Okay, that is suspicious” Derek agrees, “But there could’ve been a lot of reasons for someone to go into hiding.”

“True” Stiles says, “But I reached out to some old classmates, and one of them –creepy dude by the name of Matt Daehler – claims he dated her.”

“When she was his teacher?” Derek asks, Stiles nods, “That – how does that link back to Heather and Aiden. I mean – you think their deaths are related, right?”

“I do” he nods, “According to Matt, they met up at school in the evening. Heather and I were supposed to meet there after lacrosse, a few days before she died. Thing is, I couldn’t make it. I got tackled during training, and they brought me to the hospital for a full check-up. I completely forgot to notify her, and she still went. She told me the next day that she had been looking for me.”

“You think she walked in on Matt and Miss Baccari” Derek concludes, Stiles nods again, getting up from his chair to pace back and forth in the living room, “Then what’s the problem?”

“Aiden” he says, “I don’t see how Aiden connects to this. He quit lacrosse a few months earlier – some sort of injury – and he was never at the school after hours. So he can’t have walked in on them.”

“So she wouldn’t have motive to kill Aiden” Derek says, “But the murders are still connected.”

“Exactly” Stiles rubs his hands over his face and sighs again, looking exhausted and frustrated, “Aiden and Heather didn’t run in the same circles. Hell, Heather didn’t even go to our school anymore. She transferred at the beginning of the year after her parents’ divorce.”

“Then how did she know Miss Baccari was a substitute teacher?” Derek enquires.

“She was at Beacon Hills high for the first four weeks, when Baccari was already teaching there” he says, “She transferred after that.”

“You said Aiden was in lacrosse but quit – did he still go to games?” Derek asks, Stiles frowns at him, “I’m thinking – if he did, he might have met Heather at one of the games. I’m assuming she came to your games, right?”

“She – did” he says, “Derek, you’re a genius.”

“I have my moments” he says, “So – what’s the next step?”

“Talk to Ethan – Aiden’s twin brother” Stiles says, “And then find Julia Baccari.”

“Okay” Derek smiles, “Now that we have that figured out – can we focus on our seating chart again?”

Stiles sighs again, “Fine” he says, “But I’d rather face another psycho killer than try to figure out who can sit with who.”

“Yeah – same.”

[…]

 “I’ve been looking forward to this” Stiles says as he parks the jeep by the bakery and gets out, Derek right behind him.

“I’m aware” Derek says with a smile, “You’ve barely shut up about it for the past three weeks.”

“Well – whatever” he mutters, giving Derek a playful shove with his shoulder, “Let’s just go inside, okay?”

“Okay” he says, holding the door open for his fiancé. They walk in to be greeted at a counter by a perky young blonde girl, whose face suddenly shifts when she sees the two of them.

“Hello” Derek walks up to the girl, Stiles right behind him already admiring some cakes in the display, “We had an appointment for a tasting, Hale-Stilinski?”

“Let me check” she says with a tense smile, turning towards het computer screen and typing a few things in, her shoulders rigid as she does so.

Stiles frowns at Derek as he notices her response, nervously typing onto the keyboard and glancing over her shoulder.

“Is everything okay?” Derek asks after a moment, she glances over her shoulder again – as if she’s afraid someone’s listening in on them – before leaning over the counter.

“My boss is a bit of an asshole” she whispers, glancing over her shoulder again, “I didn’t know you were two guys – he, uhm – he might refuse to take you on.”

“Oh” Derek frowns, not sure how to respond. Sure, he’d dealt with homophobic assholes before – but normally he could just ignore them.

“Look” she says, grabbing a piece of paper and scrabbling something down, “I have a friend – he’d be glad to help you out. I’ll give him a call and you can go there in an hour or so, probably. But – my boss is – I’m so sorry.”

“Why do you still work for him then?” Stiles asks, coming up behind Derek.

“He pays really well” she says, “And I got a massive college debt – as we all do.”

“Oh” Stiles frowns again, and Derek can tell he’s disappointed, he’d been looking forward to today – a lot, “What’s his name again?”

The woman frowns, “I know some people” Stiles shrugs, “Maybe I can help you out.”

She shakes her head, “It’s cool” she replies, “Well – it’s not. But I’ll manage. You want me to call my friend for you?”

“Sure” Derek says, before Stiles can reply, placing a comforting hand on his shoulder.

[…]

“Call me crazy, but I really thought we’d moved past those kind of things as a society” Stiles says when they step into the car, “I mean – ancient Egyptians didn’t give a fuck about homosexuality – why do people now even care? What’s it to them?”

“I don’t know, Stiles” Derek sighs, “But they do. I’ve actually lost customers after they saw us together – that’s why Laura put up those posters. Saying that homophobes aren’t welcome.”

“I like those posters” Stiles says, “Can’t believe people would avoid good coffee because the man who made them is gay. What kind of narrow-minded idiotic reasoning is that?”

“No idea” he says, “Let’s just go and forget about it.”

“Yeah – let’s” he says, starting the car and driving off.

[…]

They end up getting a cake from a shop Laura recommends, someone who did a friend’s wedding (Derek had no idea Laura had friends). They decide on a chocolate cake – Stiles’ favourite – with a chocolate filling and fondant. He convinces Derek of his choice by bringing up their first date and their brownie sharing. Stiles gives him his best pout and Derek caves – as usual.

They decide to take another look at the seating chart and finally finish it, emailing it to Lydia for a double check – she’s surprisingly familiar with Stiles’ family workings.

“I forgot to ask” Laura says, “How was your date night with Stiles a few days back?”

“It was good” he says, slightly surprised as to why she suddenly asks about it, “Why you asking about it?”

“Just” she shrugs, “You said you got around to discuss some important things.”

“We did” he says, eyeing her suspiciously, “What do you want to know?”

“Well – I would like to know if there’s a chance of me ever becoming an aunt” she says casually, “I mean – you know I don’t want kids. But I’m not against the idea of carrying a baby for someone important to me.”

“Oh – are you” Derek turns towards his sister, “Are you volunteering to be a surrogate for Stiles and I.”

“I am” she says, “I mean – if you get a donor, of course. It’s be weird otherwise.”

“Yeah – sure” he says, his throat closing up a little bit and pulling her into a tight hug, “I’ll let Stiles know – thanks.”

“So – you guys want kids?” she asks, he nods.

“Yeah – we do” he replies, “Not in the immediate future, but some day – yes.”

“Good” she says.

They continue the rest of their work in silence, closing up the shop and parting ways at the door.

[…]

“So – any luck with your case?” Derek asks as he takes a bite of pizza and looks up at Stiles. His fiancé looks up and sighs deeply.

“Still waiting for Lydia to get back to me with a picture” he says, “I told her to text it to you or Laura – since I still have this old museum piece.”

“You should really get it replaced” Derek says with a snort when Stiles holds up his Nokia 1100, “What even happened to your Sony?”

“Nothing” he says, his face turning bright pink, “I misplaced it.”

“You – you dropped it in the toilet didn’t you?” Derek asks with a snort, watching Stiles look down at his plate and shake his head, “How did that even happen?”

“I didn’t –.” he starts, “Okay – well. I don’t even know. I put it in my jacket pocket, and it fell out somehow.”

Derek smiles and rolls his eyes, “Sorry sweetcheeks” he says with a solemn nod, “I will get you a new one for your birthday coming up.”

“Thanks, darling” he says, “You’re the best.”

“I know” Derek replies, “Are you coming to the shop after work tomorrow?”

“Yeah, sure” he says, “We can drive home together. I got a late night though, if you don’t mind waiting.”

“Nah – we got deliveries tomorrow evening” Derek says, “More likely you’ll have to wait. Laura’s roommate might be there too, she works nearby. They take the train together sometimes too.”

“Is she nice?” Stiles asks, taking another bite of pizza, “I mean – you don’t mention her often. Neither does Laura – come to think of it.”

“I don’t know” Derek shrugs, “Laura’s got those evening classes, you know? She still comes in for coffee, and she tries to start conversation often. But god – she’s so boring, to be honest. And she always wears these low-cut shirts and leans on the counter. Like she’s trying something?”

“Should I worry?” Stiles asks, “Is she coming onto you? Should I do a background check on her?”

“Nah, I actually think she’s trying to get with Laura” Derek says, “Which is wasted energy, because Laura doesn’t swing that way.”

“True” Stiles says, “I still can’t believe your sister offered to carry a baby for us. She’s amazing.”

“I know – she is” Derek says, “Don’t know how many she’d carry for us though – I didn’t tell her we want a bunch of them.”

“An entire house of little monsters” Stiles says wistfully, “Yeah – maybe we shouldn’t wait 5 years – how about three?”

“Yes, three” Derek agrees, “I’ll have Laura look into establishing a daycare unit at the coffee shop. Erica’s been asking about it too, by the way.”

“Right, how far along is she?” Stiles asks, taking the last bite of his pizza and pushing his plate away, “I mean – she’s expecting twins, right?”

“She is” Derek confirms, “She’s four months.”

“Hmm, don’t forget the baby shower in three months” he says, “She’ll skin you alive if you forget.”

“I know” Derek says, “She told me so. You’ve finished eating?”

“I have” Stiles says as they both get up and clear the table, loading the dirty dishes in the dishwasher as Derek disposes of the empty boxes, “Early night?”

“Early night” Derek agrees, “I’m exhausted.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PS:  
> Hoping to post the next chapter in the following week ;)


	4. Chapter 4

“Derek! Can you come and help me carry these boxes inside please?” Laura shouts, her shoulder pushed against the door to hold it open. Derek looks up and gives a nod.

“Sure, give me a second” he replies, turning to Jennifer, “It was nice talking to you, I should probably go help my darling sister.”

She gives him a charming smile, and he makes his way towards the door, passing Stiles as he leaves.

“Stiles?” he frowns, “I didn’t know you were stopping by this early. Didn’t you have to work late tonight?”

“Normally, yes” he says, “But I already got the money shot, so I thought I’d come by a bit sooner, and we could still go home together like planned. Mind if I help myself to a cup of coffee while I wait?”

“Not at all” he says, kissing his cheek, “You can keep Jennifer some company!”

Stiles raises an eyebrow at him, “Laura’s roommate” Derek explains, “She works a few streets further remember? She came by to take the train home with Laura – just like you and I.”

“Right. Completely slipped my mind there for a second” Stiles smiles, he walks in to find Jennifer sitting on the counter reading a book.

“Hi” he says, the woman looks up – an expression Stiles can’t quite place flashing across her face – and jumps off the counter. Stiles walks around it, going for the coffee machine where Derek has already put out a paper cup with his name on it – he often brings him a fresh brew when he’s working nights.

“I’m Stiles” he says, “Derek’s fiancé?”

He asks her, checking if she knows who he is, and she smiles back at him. She almost looks concerned.

“Right” she replies, pacing back and forth through the shop, “Stilinski.”

“That’s it” he replies – he fills his cup and looks back up at her, “Have we met?”

“I don’t think so?” she says, although she doesn’t look so sure of it herself, “I think I’d remember a name like Stilinski.”

“It’s something unusual, true” he says, “I had this substitute teacher in Highschool who refused to call me by my first name – you know.”

She laughs – almost empty – and he looks at her again, “What do you do for a living, Jennifer?”

“I – uhm – teach” she says, “Kindergarten” she adds quickly, as Stiles gives her a suspicious look. She’s hovering by the door, her hand nervously clutching her handbag and – she wasn’t holding that bag two minutes ago.

“Jennifer” he looks at her, really studying her face this time, and he freezes, “Julia.”

“Excuse me?” she gives him another smile, looking slightly confused – or at least trying to look confused, she comes across as constipated.

“Julia Baccari” he says, “It’s you – you’re the substitute – the last one to see -.”

“No – I’m Jennifer Blake” she says, “You have me confused with someone else.”

“J.B.” he says, “Same initials.”

“It happens” she shrugs, leaning against the door, her right hand fumbling on the handle behind her while her left hand is still clutching the handbag.

“You – you killed Heather” Stiles says, swallowing, “It’s you – you were the one having an affair with Matt Daehler.”

The woman cringes at the mention of the name, a shudder running through her body as she shakes her head and sighs deeply.

“ _Ew_ ” she says, “Matt Daehler, was an absolute _creep_. I wouldn’t touch him with a ten foot pole. That creep was stalking me.”

“Then –.” Stiles pauses, the wheels turning in his head as everything seems to fall into place, “Aiden – he died a few months later.”

“Look at you – finally living up to your potential” she sneers, referencing his high school teacher’s favourite comments _‘You have such potential, Stilinski. But you don’t do anything with it’._

“Why - ?” he asks, even though he knows the answer. He has his phone in his pocket, dialing Derek’s number – who left his phone on the counter and goes straight to voice mail – and lets it record her response.

“I forgot, you were dating the girl, weren’t you?” she says, she shakes her head disapprovingly, “She was looking for you when she walked into my classroom.”

“Oh” Stiles tries not to attack her, because her other hand is now inside the handbag and he doesn’t need to guess what is in that bag, “She walked in on you and Aiden – didn’t she?”

“My, my – you are such a clever boy” she spits, “Yeah – she did. She came to me after class the following day. Well, Aiden did first. She had asked him if I was forcing him, and then she said she was going to turn me in.”

“And you couldn’t have that – could you?” he asks, Jennifer smiles again, “So you took her out. The question is – why Aiden?”

“I wanted to break it off with him” she shrugs, “But he didn’t like that. Said that – if I dumped him – he’d turn me in too. Make my life a living hell.”

“Everything to protect your honor, huh?” he asks, she shrugs again, “No – this isn’t about honor. It’s about – about your job?”

“Sounds stupid, right?” she says, her face contorting in a strange expression,  “Why go through all that trouble to keep a job teaching _teenagers_ , of all things?”

“Because you cannot stay away from them” Stiles guesses correctly, watching the glaze in her eyes, “You – you’re a predator. A Pedophile, praying on your pupils.”

“I am _not_ a pedophile” she spits, “I do not sleep with children. They’re over sixteen.”

“It’s still wrong, though” Stiles says, “You’re an authority figure to them. They’re supposed to be safe with you. But they’re not, are they? They come to you at their most vulnerable and then you take advantage of that.”

“They always have a choice” she sneers, there’s a ruckus behind her, and Stiles sees the door handle move up and down. The door stays closed.

“You locked us in” he states, she smiles again, “What’s your plan, Julia? Killing me now? And how would you get away?”

“It’s late” she says, “Abandoned area over here this time of night. It’s so sad that this place fell victim to such a violent attack. They should’ve just given those robbers the money, I guess.”

Stiles takes another step back from her, bumping into the counter, as he hears Derek knock on the door asking to open up for them.

He looks around – hoping to find something that could serve as a weapon, but Derek is meticulous when he closes shop. All knives – the ones he uses for the apple pie he sells during lunch hour – are locked away safely in the kitchen. The only cups in the place are made of paper and can’t really be used as a weapon. There’s the water kettle – for the occasion customer requesting tea – but Stiles doesn’t really want to break anything valuable in Derek’s shop. Derek loves this place, it was his parents’ shop. Most of the machines were things they bought before they – well – couldn’t anymore. The water kettle was one of them.

He looks around again, the chairs are stacked on the tables – clearing the floor for cleaning it tomorrow morning before opening up – and out of his reach.

And that’s when Jennifer – or Julia, perhaps crazy bitch is more suitable – pulls out the gun. It’s a small one, but it will probably still be able to kill him.

He feels his throat close up, his hand grabbing his phone in his pocket as he hangs up to Derek’s mailbox and presses whatever dials he can – even though he can’t see it and has no idea if he’s actually calling anyone.

“Derek!” he mutters under his breath, “Derek, help.”

He should shout – probably – scream for help. But he can’t. Because his throat closes up, and he can barely breathe as the crazy woman steps towards him.

“You know – if you hadn’t been dating that girl – I might have taken a chance on you” she says with a teasing smile, twisting the gun in her hand to check her nails, “Quite a pity, to be honest.”

“Gee – sorry about that” he says sarcastically, desperately trying to remember the latest self-defense lessons his dad made him go to after getting shot by Kate Argent.

[…]

 “So – what’s going on?” Derek asks Laura as he helps her load the boxes onto the truck, she shrugs in response.

“I don’t really know” she says, “I have this feeling something is – I don’t know. I have a weird feeling, had it all day?”

Derek wants to say something when Laura’s phone interrupts them, she picks up after looking at the screen with a frown.

“Lydia?” she says slowly, “What’s up?”

“Hi, Laura” Lydia replies with an urgent sound, “I’ve been trying to reach Stiles, but he’s not picking up.”

“Oh, he’s inside. What’d you need him for?” she asks, glancing at the door of the coffee shop.

“He asked me to look into my old pictures, see if I had a picture of our old sub for English” she says, “I found it, wanted to text it to him – but he can’t receive pictures on his phone. If I send it to you, can you get it to him?”

“Sure” Laura says, “Go ahead.”

“Thanks” she replies, hanging up and sending her the picture.

“Okay – this is weird” she says, looking at the picture.

“What is?” Derek asks.

“Well – apparently Jennifer was Stiles’ substitute teaching in high school?” Laura asks uncertainly, showing Derek the picture.

“Laura – call the cops” he says immediately, “She – Stiles thinks she might have killed Heather. And Aiden.”

“Wait – Stiles’ friends from school?” Laura asks, Derek nods, “You mean – the woman that is inside this place with Stiles is – a crazy ass killer?”

“ _Yes.”_

_“Fuck!”_

[…]

“The door is locked” Derek tells the police officer – the sheriff is still on his way – as he nods towards the closed door of the coffee-shop.

“There’s security camera’s” Laura informs the man in uniform, “I think there’s a possibility to access them externally – Erica knows more about those, she helped us install them.”

“She did?” Derek asks, frowning slightly as he keeps shooting worried glances towards the shop.

“I already sent her a text” Laura continues towards the officer, “She should be here in fifteen minutes – just make sure she can sit somewhere warm.”

The officer frowns, “She’s pregnant” Derek adds, “When – Stiles is in there with her.”

“Does he have any way of protecting himself?” the officer asks, Derek bites his lip nervously.

“I know his dad made him take self-defense classes” Derek says, “But I don’t know how good he was at it. And if she has a gun – I – you guys are going to get him out okay, right?”

“We will, sir” the man says, placing a comforting hand on Derek’s shoulder, “Nobody wants to see harm come to the sheriff’s son.”

“Yeah – good” Derek says, as he starts pacing again.

[…]

Stiles keeps his eyes on the gun, trying not to look nervous. By now Derek and Laura are aware of what’s going on inside, they’d tried coming in a while back and had called the landline a few times. He’d seen the light of the sirens a few minutes back – signaling the arrival of local law enforcement and thus his dad.

Hopefully.

[…]

“Any news?” the sheriff asks Derek when he finally arrives fifteen minutes later, before turning towards Laura, “Didn’t you have Stiles do a background check on her before she moved in?”

“Uhm” she shakes her head, suddenly feeling guilty, “I mean – I called her former roommate, and she only had good things to say, so?”

“Sorry – I – I’m just worried” he says, rubbing his hand over his face, “I shouldn’t blame you for this.”

“She killed Heather” Derek says, “Erica managed to hack into the security camera feed.”

“Oh” the sheriff freezes, “I didn’t know he was looking into that.”

“Her mother asked him to” Derek informs the sheriff, watching a van arrive at the scene as a uniformed policeman sets up tape, “He said he couldn’t let it go.”

“Do you know if he has any evidence?” the sheriff asks, “I mean – I can bring in a team, and have them take aim – since she’s aiming a gun at my son, but I’d rather have some extra motivation if I have to decide to take the shot.”

“He has three flash drives at the apartment” Derek says, “With pictures and everything on it. But they’re password protected. Besides, she confessed it to him, it’s on camera.”

“Does Stiles know about the cameras?” he asks, Derek shakes his head.

“He doesn’t” Derek informs him, “We only got them a few weeks ago.”

“So we can’t communicate with him through them” he sighs, “Has he been going to those self-defense classes I told him about?”

“Twice a week” Derek says, “Although he says he sucks at it.”

He keeps clenching his fists, trying to focus on keeping his breathing steady and not freaking out.

“Sir?” a man says, walking up to the sheriff, “We have a clear shot, do you want us to take it?”

The sheriff hesitates for a moment, glancing at the building and then at Derek, “Yes, take it.”

[…]

Stiles’ breath hitches when she goes down, the evil smirk still frozen on her face. Next thing he knows he’s sitting on the floor, someone wrapping their arms around him and pulling him close. At first he thinks it’s Derek, but after a moment – when he realizes it’s his dad pulling him into a hug – he breaks down.

There’s something about the warmth that you get from your dad that makes you feel three years old again.

“Let’s get you out of here” the sheriff says after a while, gently pulling his son to his feet, “Derek is waiting outside for you!”

Of course he is, he wouldn’t be allowed inside. It’s a crime scene now.

“She – she killed” he breathes slowly, his dad’s hands firmly on his shoulder as he’s steered outside, the figure a guarding presence behind him.

“We know” he replies, “Derek had security cameras installed. Erica hacked them, we have her entire confession on tape.”

“Oh” he says, feeling the cold air on his skin as they step outside. Derek is standing by a police van, his face ashen white, his arms wrapped tightly around himself. When he looks up and spots Stiles he visibly relaxes, a clear tension leaving his body as his shoulders slump slightly.

“Hi’ he mumbles, as Stiles is steered towards him, his feet following automatically.

“Hi” Derek replies quietly, he feels the sudden cold behind him as his dad leaves the two of them alone to talk – an emptiness behind him that makes him feel strangely vulnerable all of the sudden.

“I’m sorry” Derek says after a beat of silence, staring down at his feet.

“What?” Stiles frowns, taking a second before he registers what Derek just said and the words sink in.

“I’m sorry” Derek repeats a bit louder, meeting Stiles’ eyes this time, “I shouldn’t have -.”

“No” Stiles shakes his head, “What the hell Derek! This was not your fault – like – at _all_!”

“But -.”

“No buts, Derek” he says, looking around, “It wasn’t anyone’s fault! Not yours, not Laura’s – not anyone’s! Clear?”

“Yeah” he says at last, although he doesn’t look convinced, finally pulling Stiles into a tight hug.

“I’m really glad you’re okay! Had me worried there for a minute.”

“Yeah – same.”

[…]

“So – I guess I fucked up big time” Laura says, biting her lip as she stirs her coffee.

“Nobody blames you, Laura” Derek sighs as he sweeps up some broken glass, “Least of all Stiles.”

“Yeah – thanks” she mumbles, “I just wish I could do something – help.”

“You can help me clean up this mess” Derek says with a smile, looking up to see his sister return the smile with a weak smile of her own and raising his eyebrow at her as he holds out the broom to her.

“Fine” she says, taking the broom from her brother and joining him in cleaning up the place.

[…]

“So – ready for tomorrow?” Stiles asks, looking at their suits hanging on their bedroom door, and glancing at Derek.

“Yeah” he says, “You?”

“I am” he smiles, pulling the blanket over them, “So ready.”

There’s a beat of silence between them as they look at one another and meet each other’s eyes.

“You want to elope, don’t you” Derek says, not even bothering to make it sound like a question.

“So much” Stiles sighs deeply, “Especially after last month.”

Derek looks at him. The man lying next to him who has been so close to dead twice since Derek met him. The man that keeps putting himself in danger in the name of justice.

The man that is so selfless, and keeps going to the very end – giving every last bit of himself – to find answers for people who so desperately need them.

Maybe – for once – he deserves something for himself. Maybe Derek can give him that, just this once.

Consequences be damned.

He glances at the clock.

“We can be in Vegas by morning if we leave now” he says, “You want to?”

“I do” he says, the words carrying such weight, “You? Do you really, really want to?”

“I really, really do.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I finished it.  
> Yay!  
> Hope you liked it.  
> Let me know  
> <3


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